Management Rep at all meetings.

At the end of of Oct. our 189 member HOA will have a quarterly member meeting. The meeting has been moved from July to Sep. to Oct. A number of issues will most likely be discussed and at the top of the list is some really BAD advice our HOA BOD and members got from the Mgmt Co. recently. As a result the HOA landed in court and we have now spent many thousands of dollars fixing a project that I have discussed in the previous posts.

I am not sure why the Management Company is at every member meeting and why they stay for the entire meeting. In the past they appear to provide "cover" for the BOD on issues. Other times they take the lead in conducting the meeting and guiding it in a way that showcases all the great things they do for us. (Full Disclosure: I have suggested we look for an alternative to this company. It's my belief that our financials are not accurate among other things.)

We never have a quorum at meetings so no motions can be made and no voting can take place. How can we get our BOD to conduct a meeting without the management company being there? Ask them to leave?
DennisG

This seems to hinge on whether the board wants them there or not. If they do, it doesn't seem to me that the board would ask them to leave. In any case, if the MC is disinvited, that should be communicated before the meeting, not by kicking them out once the meeting is started.

As far as no quorum, it would be up to members who want some business to be conducted to knock on doors, make calls, send emails, or whatever to to motivate enough members to attend. If there is still too much apathy, then the majority has spoken without speaking.

What is the purpose of quarterly members meetings anyway? In most associations the board meets periodically to conduct business, and the members meet annually to elect board members.

Dennis

It is the BOD's choice.

Dennis

You are basically peeing against the tide on this cost overrun issue. It is done. It is over. Question as much as you want but it seems your are about the only one interested.

Either take legal action and/or change the makeup of the BOD versus complaining on here. Sorry to sound so harsh but so far you have done little but complain. Take some action.

Appreciate your comment Re: Peeing against the tide. I have been laying the groundwork which sometimes requires waiting. The pavilion project was just completed and a CO issued about 30 days ago. The costs are yet to be fully known to members as they have NOT released. The last bill went to the HOA BOD only a couple weeks ago.

Under GA Code we, HOA members, are entitled to see expenses, costs, etc once we make a written demand. That demand has been made twice (late 2016) in writing to the HOA BOD and there has been no response. About 10 days ago a certified letter was sent to our registered agent asking for all the documents related to the project. It was received and signed for. I am awaiting response on when they will be made available. I asked for a written response in case they deny our request.

Legal action is expensive. I am retired and have tried to go the less expensive route in getting to the bottom of this. If the documents requested are not made available we will seek legal help. Appreciate your comments.
DennisG

Sorry, thats not a problem with the MC, that's a problem with the Board and, more specifically, the President who doesn't take charge.

That said, I can understand why an PM might try to take control.


And that is also a problem with the Board.

Common sense says otherwise and failure to have common sense is a character defect (in my opinion). Again, the Board had a choice - take the advice or look into the issue themselves (trust but verify).

You have a bad Board.

That is what needs to be fixed.

We have 130 members. Collect assessments monthly.
Issue 3 to 10 checks per month.

We are self managed.

We have utilized a bookkeeper (someone from within the Association) in the past to collect the mail, make ledger entries, prepare and make deposits and send late notices. Cost was $4,200 year. Treasurer paid the bills, kept the financials, spot checked the ledgers and made financial reports to the Board.

Unless membership apathy is extremely high, I'm not sure why you aren't self managed.

For comparison since I know JohnC46's community is similar to mine in many ways...

We are 100 owners, 30 duplexes and 40 single family homes. We have a clubhouse, a pool, a gate house, a mail house, and a maintenance building. We are on 25 acres and everything outside of the footprint of the homes is common property and that includes all sidewalks and driveways. We have 0.8 mile of paved roads, two aux parking lots and 2 tennis courts. The HOA is responsible for re-roofing and exterior painting of all CBS homes. 80% of our reserve replacement costs are in the roof & painting reserves.

Our annual operating budget is $250K and we contribute an additional $86K to our reserves. Our largest expense is landscaping as we do all landscaping including each home's landscaping. Our landscaping budget is $100K (lawn mowing, tree trimming, bug spraying, fertilizing, landscape replacement and detention pond weed control). Our bookkeeper handles collections, payments, sending out checks, etc. Our bookkeeping fee is about $9K and annually our outside CPA costs another $2K a year to prepare the annual financial report.

Our second largest expense is maintenance. We have a contractor "maintenance man" who gets $50K a year. We pay an additional $25K for powerwashing, pool maintenance, lake fountains, irrigation pumps and sprinkler head replacements.

We're self-managed and our bookeeper has offered to "do it all" for us in exchange for $120 per year, per door. There was a MC here about 25 years ago that lasted a year before the board cancelled the contract because it was "too expensive" and we could "do it better ourselves". That has led slowly over time to a large range of problems no one wants to address. If all we had to do was keep an eye on the MC it would be easier to get people on the board and our committees. The same 6-10 people have been doing all the heavy lifting for the better part of a decade. The faces change but it always seems to be only about 6-10 people doing all the work.